Prince Rocks the Matthew Williamson Runway!

One way to ensure your catwalk show gets a standing ovation before any of your designs even appear? Open your show with a Prince performance. One minute, the Purple One was sitting quietly in the front row at Matthew Williamson‘s 10th anniversary show in London, and the next he was holding a microphone in hand, singing “Chelsea Rodgers” accompanied by his five-piece band. (The singer currently is nearing the end of a two-month, 21-concert stint in London.) Halfway through the song, Prince — dressed in black suede and lace, plus black patent heels — jumped up from his seat to join two dancers clad in (what else?) purple. Even normally blase fashion editors were scrabbling for their camera phones. As for the show itself? Lots of khaki accented with a Southwestern-inspired patterns of tangerine, green, and turquoise (but sadly no purple). The show closed with a recorded version of “Kiss,” prompting one witty member of the back row to remark that you might not have to be rich to be Prince’s girl, but the money certainly wouldn’t hurt if you wanted a Williamson dress.